EDITORS' PICK

A private car should ideally carry four to five people. But a recent survey in Udyog Vihar Industrial Area in Gurugram showed that it carries only 1.6 persons on average. The survey was conducted by the IT company Nagarro among over 2600 of its own employees. Among the survey respondents, 42 percent were using private cars to come to office, contributing to the infamous congestion in the city. The majority of them did not carpool. A quarter of the car users sometimes parked their cars on the street next to office, which could also congest the road. Another 19 percent…

Over the Republic Day weekend, around 5000 Chennaiites flocked to an exhibition that showcased an art form that dates back to the days of the Indus Valley civilisation and is perhaps one of the oldest upcycling methods that has been traditionally and indigenously practised: Quilting. The first edition of the India Quilt Festival took place from 25- 27 January, 2019. The event, a pioneer in the space, featured competitions, stalls, workshops and lectures on quilting. Citizen Matters spoke to Varsha Sundararajan, one of the organisers of the fest. Does India have a special connection with quilting? India has a 4000-year-old…

The question of whether non resident Indians (NRIs) can play an active role in determining the political leadership of their native country by casting their ballot, and how, has been at the centre of focus on many occasions. The coming elections to the Lok Sabha have created a new flutter over the issue with the looming possibility of NRIs being able to vote through appointed proxies. So, how does the system work at present? And what are the changes being mulled? Here is a quick look at the entire NRI voting process and possibility. According to the provisions of Section…

In an interview with Citizen Matters done in 2016, Rajendra Kumar Mishra, popularly known as R K Mishra, had said that the proposed elevated corridor project would encourage public transport. This was at the height of the public opposition to the proposed Steel flyover where the pros and cons of flyovers were being hotly debated. In the last part of our four part series on the Steel Flyover/ elevated corridor projects, we spoke to Misra, who as a member of the Chief Minister's Vision Group, had batted for the Elevated Corridor Project. Right at the outset, Mishra denied ever being…

https://twitter.com/Dr_RVS/status/1074696228447899650 This tweet from a resident asking the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) if they have planned to kill residents near the Karnataka Development Compost Corporation (KCDC), sums up the despair of the residents over the years who have been residing in the area. A group of 23 petitioners including the Kudlu, Hosapalya, HSR Layout, SomasundaraPalya, Parangipalya( KHHSP) Residents Welfare Association (RWA), have filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 demanding the closure of KCDC citing it to be a major source of pollution. The residents have run out of patience with the government. "Filing…

''This year has been a welcome sight for birdwatchers as there has been an increase in the number of migratory birds in the city. The numbers seem to have increased in spite of the poor monsoons the city saw this year,'' says environmentalist E Seshan. Although the water levels in Pallikaranai and Vedanthangal run low following a scant northeast monsoon, these winged friends have made several other water bodies in the city their home. A retired chief photographer of the Geological Survey of India, E Seshan, has been studying the pattern and habits of migratory birds in Chennai for the…

Continuous trolling, sarcastic celebrations, and even a mock ‘inauguration by the Prime Minister’ -- there is no end to the many creative ways in which Mangaluru residents have been venting their frustration over the incompletion of this 900-metre flyover in their city that lies unfinished for close to a decade now. The Pumpwell flyover that lies at the intersection of NH66 AND NH55 was ideated to absorb the excess load of the intercity and highway traffic, but for nearly 10 years since the issue of the Letter of Approval (LOA) for the project, it has only added to traffic woes…

Shetty (name changed), manager at a Bengaluru apartment, dreaded the RWA meeting where he had to get members’ approval for common area electricity bills. RWA members invariably questioned him on the huge bill amounts, but he was unable to justify the bills or identify measures for saving. The association was also unable to take concerted action, mainly because of the lack of data. Usually the association ended up taking ad hoc steps like installing LED lights, and brushes the issue aside. But the problem is revisited every year, with the same results. Upto a quarter of maintenance charges is for…

Like every year, Lalbagh is hosting flower show this year as well. The theme is Mahatma Gandhi's 150th Birth Anniversary. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd has introduced return journey paper tickets for a flat price of Rs 30. One can travel from Lalbagh Metro station to any other stations at this fare, between 10 am to 8 pm, on January 25th, 26th and 27th. The tickets will be available at all metro stations between 8 am to 6 pm. The press note from BMRCL explains it: Like every year, our reader Srinivasan Subramaniam has shared the photos from the flower…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities Bengaluru has thousands of two-stroke auto rickshaws, which have proved to be a bane in the scheme of things where shift to eco-friendly vehicles needs to happen quickly to counter the air pollution crisis the city is facing. And this is taking time, as the government's plans seem to be ineffective. In November 2018, Radio Active 90.4 MHz CR a community radio station did a study of government's plan to phase out 2-stroke autos and move to 4-stroke autos. They held a focus group discussion with auto drivers…